Unforgivable Blackness

A significant achievement… An utterly convincing and frequently heartrending portrait – Joyce Carol Oates * New York Review of Books *A formidable accomplishment…Ward has successfully brought this deep and colourful personality, this insufficiently understood and altogether amazing man, back to life – David Margolick * New York Times Book Review *A portrait of a fascinating figure, whose oversized personality fills every page. – Bruce Schoenfeld * Washington Post *Ward is a distinguished and diligent historian, and he has mined original sources to tremendous effect. The detail is dazzling… It deserves an audience far beyond fans of the ring game – Andrew Baker * Daily Telegraph *‘a delicious detail on almost every page… Research this powerful gives Unforgivable Blackness a richness that rewards contemplative reading’, – Jon Hotten * Scotland on Sunday *This remarkable book is at one and the same time a rousing story, a terrific biography, and first-rate history.With immense skill, Geoffrey Ward has not only brought Jack Johnson back to life but has provided a telling window onto what it was like to be a great black athlete in early-twentieth-century America. * Doris Kearns Goodwin *Geoffrey Ward’s Unforgivable Blackness is a stunning exploration of the unbelievable bigotry of whites in early-twentieth-century America. – David Levering Lewis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the two-volume biography of W. E. B. Du BoisThis compelling and exhaustively researched biography resurrects the story of a uniquely fascinating man…The authoritative biography of Johnson for sure, but also one of the best boxing books in recent memory. * Booklist *‘probably the finest book on the uniquely talented and horribly hounded black heavyweight champion from the early years of the 20th century…Johnson was a remarkable man… Little has changed, believe it or not’. * Observer *‘Great subject, great book….Ward shows us how the great black heavyweight champion overcame a poor education to mix successfully with the glitterati of Europe and America’. * The Daily Ireland *

Geoffrey C. Ward won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1989. He is the author of Unforgiveable Blackness and, with Ken Burns, he is co-author of The Civil War and Jazz.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.